The unlikely story of one New Zealander, the Pakeha son of a sheep farmer from Feilding, who has spent a lifetime researching the Sikh people of India is one that is waiting to be told.
Hew McLeod conducted ground breaking research into Punjabi immigration to New Zealand, preserving the early history of this sizeable group for generations to come.
An internationally recognised expert on the history and religion of the Sikhs, Dunedin-based McLeod is virtually unknown in his own country.
The softly spoken emeritus professor, who has inflamed controversy and blazed a trail for other scholars to follow over four decades, speaks for the first time about his life and work.
“Anyone interested in Sikhism starts by reading W H McLeod. He basically started the whole contemporary study of their history, from a Western academic point of view, and he’s still the one everyone’s arguing with – or agreeing with – today,” says director Jasmine Pujji.
Now, 76 and in indifferent health, the documentary provides a rare glimpse of the life of one of New Zealand’s unsung success stories.
“Living in Punjab, Northern India, as a Christian missionary with his wife and child in the 1950s had a really profound effect on him,” says Jasmine.
Leaving the church, McLeod went in pursuit of what became a lifelong passion for understanding the colourful, but little known group, the Sikhs.
The New Zealand-born half Punjab director had not realised McLeod himself was a New Zealander, until recently. ‘I couldn’t believe how well known he is elsewhere, especially in Sikh circles, but no-one here has ever heard of him – despite what he’s done for Indian history here in New Zealand,’ says Jasmine.
Richly illustrated with archive footage, photographs and the religious art of the Sikhs, the documentary includes interviews with family, academics and New Zealand Sikhs.
Asia Downunder’s ‘Hew McLeod: A Kiwi Sikh Historian’ screens on
TV ONE, Sunday 12 July 10.30am.
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The programme repeats on:
TVNZ 7 - Wednesday 15th July 6:30pm, Thursday 16th July 10:10am, Saturday 18th 8:35am
MAORI TV Monday 3 August, 2009, 10:00pm
CTV (Christchurch) Sundays 11:30am 19th July
CHANNEL 9 (Dunedin) Monday 13th July 9:00pm & repeats Thursday 16th July 9:00pm
TV HAWKES BAY (Napier/Taupo) Tuesday 14th July 9pm
FAMILY TV (Rodney) Monday 13th July 5:30pm, Tuesday 14th July 7:30pm, Saturday 18th July Midday
TARARUA TV Sunday 19th July 7:30pm
SIT - EDUCATIONAL TV NATIONWIDE - CUE TV NETWORK - SKY 110 & FREEVIEW CHANNEL 23 Monday 13th July
The unlikely story of one New Zealander, the Pakeha son of a sheep farmer from Feilding, who has spent a lifetime researching the Sikh people of India is one that is waiting to be told. Hew McLeod conducted ground breaking research into Punjabi immigration to New Zealand, preserving the early...
The unlikely story of one New Zealander, the Pakeha son of a sheep farmer from Feilding, who has spent a lifetime researching the Sikh people of India is one that is waiting to be told.
Hew McLeod conducted ground breaking research into Punjabi immigration to New Zealand, preserving the early history of this sizeable group for generations to come.
An internationally recognised expert on the history and religion of the Sikhs, Dunedin-based McLeod is virtually unknown in his own country.
The softly spoken emeritus professor, who has inflamed controversy and blazed a trail for other scholars to follow over four decades, speaks for the first time about his life and work.
“Anyone interested in Sikhism starts by reading W H McLeod. He basically started the whole contemporary study of their history, from a Western academic point of view, and he’s still the one everyone’s arguing with – or agreeing with – today,” says director Jasmine Pujji.
Now, 76 and in indifferent health, the documentary provides a rare glimpse of the life of one of New Zealand’s unsung success stories.
“Living in Punjab, Northern India, as a Christian missionary with his wife and child in the 1950s had a really profound effect on him,” says Jasmine.
Leaving the church, McLeod went in pursuit of what became a lifelong passion for understanding the colourful, but little known group, the Sikhs.
The New Zealand-born half Punjab director had not realised McLeod himself was a New Zealander, until recently. ‘I couldn’t believe how well known he is elsewhere, especially in Sikh circles, but no-one here has ever heard of him – despite what he’s done for Indian history here in New Zealand,’ says Jasmine.
Richly illustrated with archive footage, photographs and the religious art of the Sikhs, the documentary includes interviews with family, academics and New Zealand Sikhs.
Asia Downunder’s ‘Hew McLeod: A Kiwi Sikh Historian’ screens on
TV ONE, Sunday 12 July 10.30am.
---
The programme repeats on:
TVNZ 7 - Wednesday 15th July 6:30pm, Thursday 16th July 10:10am, Saturday 18th 8:35am
MAORI TV Monday 3 August, 2009, 10:00pm
CTV (Christchurch) Sundays 11:30am 19th July
CHANNEL 9 (Dunedin) Monday 13th July 9:00pm & repeats Thursday 16th July 9:00pm
TV HAWKES BAY (Napier/Taupo) Tuesday 14th July 9pm
FAMILY TV (Rodney) Monday 13th July 5:30pm, Tuesday 14th July 7:30pm, Saturday 18th July Midday
TARARUA TV Sunday 19th July 7:30pm
SIT - EDUCATIONAL TV NATIONWIDE - CUE TV NETWORK - SKY 110 & FREEVIEW CHANNEL 23 Monday 13th July
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